Refrigeration systems or heat pumps may use a thermostatic expansion valve which requires that the valve be supplied with a solid column of liquid refrigerant with no gaseous bubbles. Such systems when designed for use on automotive vehicles commonly include a receiver comprising a reservoir which receives refrigerant in the form of mixed liquid and gas phase and separates the phases prior to dispensing the refrigerant. Such reservoirs often contain a desiccant to remove water from the refrigerant and then are known as receiver dehydrators. Usually these devices accommodate fluid flow in only one direction. For such unidirectional flow receivers a number of gas-liquid separation schemes have been proposed. For example, an incoming gas and liquid mixture enters the top of the reservoir so that the liquid can settle to the bottom and the outgoing liquid is drawn from the bottom.
In a system having both heating and cooling modes the direction of refrigerant flow is reversed in a portion of the system to change modes. That bidirectional part of the system includes the receiver and thus a gas-liquid separation receiver operable in both flow directions is needed. Such a receiver requires a separator or baffle which also will function in both flow directions.